Close-ups
Framed and on the wall
Frame and rooms are illustrations of how the print could look; the description says what is included.
The Large Green Parrot of The West Indies Hand-Colored and Engraved, 1749
$660 (£500, €590)
Period original, not a reproduction.
Shipped from the Netherlands, flat, insured and tracked, worldwide. Returns accepted within 14 days.
- Date
- 1749
- Size
- 14.6 × 9.8 in (37 × 25 cm)
- Condition
- Good. Good condition with the original hand coloring still very vivid and vibrant. The paper is chain-lined with strong plate marks and watermark. General age related toning and minor foxing. Study the images carefully.
- Period
- 18th century
- Section
- Birds
- Reference
- f_38314442
- Colour
- Hand coloured
What the condition grades mean
- Excellent
- Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
- Very good
- Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
- Good
- Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
- Fair
- Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
The large green parrot of the West Indies, an original hand-colored copper engraving from Johann Michael Seligmann's bird series, published in Nuremberg in 1749. The plate is lettered "Der grosse grüne Papagey aus West-Indien" at the top, with "Tab. LVII." at the upper right, and the Latin and French names at the foot: "Psittacus viridis major, Occidentalis" and "Le Grand Perroquet Verd des Indes Occidentales."
The parrot sits upright on a gnarled branch, turned to the left. Its plumage is green with yellow edging on the breast feathers, a flush of orange at the throat and shoulder, a bluish patch at the face, and red and blue touches on the wing and tail. Grasses and low plants grow at the foot of the branch, with a few dry twigs rising behind.
The credits below the image read "G. Edwards ad vivum delin." (drawn from life by George Edwards), "J.M. Seligmann excudit" and a line for the engraver, Johann Sebastian Leitner, with the imperial privilege "Cum Priv. Sac. Caes. Majestatis" printed between. The plate follows Edwards, the English naturalist whose drawings Seligmann reissued for continental readers.
